Nova Patents
US7596510B2

Method, system and apparatus for requesting status information from a common carrier

Summary by NHIP

Automated Carrier Status Notification

The system automatically requests transit status from a common carrier and sends email updates when the item status changes. Distinctive steps include storing data in a status record, setting a flag upon new information, and triggering messages when the item leaves a distribution center or reaches a transfer terminal.

Claim Score by NHIP

Read claim 1, the broadest

Abstract

A method and system for automatically requesting transit status information from a common carrier system over a network. The transit status information indicates a transit status of an item purchased by a customer by placing an order. A message is automatically composed and transmitted to the customer upon determining the transit status of the item purchased by the customer has changed.

US7596510B2, drawing sheet 1
Sheet 1 of 7

Term

Term ended

Expired 22 June 2021, 5.3 years ago.

  1. Priority and filed
  2. Granted
  3. Expired
  4. Today

27 claims: 3 independent, 24 dependent

  1. 1
    Broadest claimClaim Score 64, broad(NHIP)A method to provide update information, the method including:on a central server, automatically requesting transit status information from a common carrier information system over a network, the transit status information including information regarding a transit status of an item purchased by a customer by placing an order, while the item is in transit by a common carrier to the customer;storing the transit status information in a status record;periodically determining whether the received transit status information is new relative to further transit status information pertaining to the order stored within the status record;and automatically composing and transmitting an email to the customer upon determining the transit status of the item purchased by the customer has changed.
  2. 13
    An electronic commerce system, comprising:a host computer;and a storage medium having instructions, which when executed by the computer cause the performing of operations, comprising: automatically requesting transit status information from a common carrier information system over a network, the transit status information including information regarding a transit status of an item purchased by a customer by placing an order, while the item is in transit by a common carrier to the customer;storing the transit status information in a status record;periodically determining whether the received transit status information is new relative to further transit status information pertaining to the order stored within the status record;and automatically composing and transmitting an email message to the customer upon determining that the transit status of the item purchased by the customer has changed.
  3. 24
    A machine-readable medium having executable instructions to cause a machine to perform a method to provide update information, the method including:automatically requesting transit status information from a common carrier information system over a network, the transit status including information regarding a transit status of an item purchased by a customer by placing an order, while the item is in transit by a common carrier to the customer;storing the transit status information in a status record;periodically determining whether the received transit status information is new relative to further transit status information pertaining to the order stored within the status record;and automatically composing and transmitting an email message to the customer upon determining the transit status of the item purchased by the customer has changed.
Independent claims3